The Tale Of The Broken Reeds
by passionately happy
Summary: "The world is nothing without people that classify themselves as klutz- it is them that keeps the Earth in balance." Tori's broken too many saxophone reeds in band class; if she breaks three of her new ones, Cat's going to be one lucky girl. OOC.


**A/N: **So today, I was pawing through my documents when I stumbled upon a document- _this document_- which happened to be a story that I had written for my Language Arts class a while back. I remember working hard on it, and well, since the school year has ended and I have no use for it anymore, I shall post it on an archive!

Enjoy!

**NOTE**: Originally, the names for this story was Emily Montgomery and Claudia Shay. I didn't want to change the fic, so that's why **TORI AND CAT ARE OOC. **

**Extra**_super_extraordinary**N**_O_T**E**: Are you a fan of _The Mortal Insturments _series? Or anything with romance, suspense, a little bit of lemonade, angst and sparks? Well, a dear friend of mine is writing an amazing story called _The Betting Game _and it's very spectacular! Go check it out after you read this!

Add the Fanfiction word to this link - [.net/s/7217519/1/The_Betting_Game]

_Reed- (n) a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument._

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"_The world is nothing without people that classify themselves as klutz- it is them that keeps the Earth in balance."_

_-Anonymous_

_~.~_

_Monday_

_~.~_

"Mrs. Terri, can I have a new reed?"

Famous last words.

Mrs. Terri looked glanced sternly at Victoria Vega, who was grasping her 'bitten' reed sheepishly. With a sigh, she reached into her purse and pulled out a handful of reeds. "Maybe that's why your saxophone sounds like a strangled rat." she said playfully. "Let's see if you will lose these all. There are three here-_enough for the year. _So don't lose it!"

Tori stared at her teacher; wide-eyed.

Mrs. Terri suddenly broke out into laughter. "Ah! I scared you!" Once her laughter faded, her strict persona resurfaced. "You take care of them!"

Tori nodded sheepishly and headed over to her seat.

"So did Mrs. T totally grill you?" A voice came from beside her, and Tori jumped to find her fellow Alto Sax player Catalina Valentine setting up her stand.

"Er, not really," Tori shrugged, setting up her own stand. "she just gave me three new reeds and told me to take care of it, thank god for that."

Cat snickered. "Tori, we're in the seventh grade and practically that's your hundredth reed broken. How many more are you going to break?"

Tori squared her shoulders. Her long, brunette locks whipped around her shoulder as she stared Cat straight in the eye. "Is that a challenge?"

Cat smirked. "Do you want it to be, klutzy?"

Tori's competitive streak rushed in. After dusting off herself, she mirrored Cat's smirk. "Bring it on."

~.~

_Tuesday_

_.._

_Reeds broken: None yet!_

_~.~_

"As you all know, Band Camp is rapidly approaching-"

A chorus of whoops cut the frustrated music teacher off, furthering her impatience.

"QUIET!" Mrs. Terri boomed. The students stared at her with wide eyes.

"Good." Mrs. Terri smiled in satisfaction. "As I was saying, Band Camp is rapidly approaching," She stopped herself to glance sternly at the students. "and I want you get you guys to a certain point with the music-"

Tori began losing herself in a train of thought while setting up her saxophone as Mrs. Terri continued to wave in and out in her conversation. _Hmm, what should I name my saxophone? Maybe something with "S-A" in it?. What about Saxy the saxophone? No, that makes me sound so-_

Her thoughts were cut off by a terrifying _screech. _Looking down, she saw that she had rubbed her reed across her sweater, chipping it.

Tori's eyes widened. She pawed furiously at her reed, dismantling it from the saxophone.

From the next seat, Cat smirked. "That's one dollar, Tor. Keep it up."

~.~

_Wednesday_

_.._

_Reeds broken: 1/3_

_~.~_

Tori walked down the stairs towards her locker, her saxophone case in her hand. Sighing, she lugged the case over her shoulder and proceeded to open her locker grumpily.

_Music Room is not open. _She thought bitterly. _What am I supposed to do with this case?_

"Good morning!" a cheerful voice cried out. Tori grinded her teeth together. _Great. _She thought sarcastically. _Just what I needed._

Cat stood next to her, leaning against the wall as she smiled widely. "Did you break any more reeds?"

Usually, Cat's antics would have made her laugh, but now, it was more annoying than nails scratching a blackboard. _God, is she really that desperate for money?_

"No." Tori plastered a fake smile on her face, swallowing her rage. "I, in fact, have the last one used and-here's the best part- _it's not broken_."

Cat raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, right."

"_Yeah, right," _Tori mimicked her friend's tone. "well, it is 'yeah, right' because I didn't break a single reed last night! So there!"

"_So there_?" Claudia repeated. "Where'd ya get that from?"

Tori rolled her eyes and gathered up her materials for the next class. Picking up her saxophone, she stalked away, leaving Cat befuddled at the lockers.

It seemed like slow motion to Tori; for she didn't realize what was happening until the end of the whole fiasco. Because what she did was totally unheard of.

Because as she strolled up the stairs…

The. Saxophone. Case. Fell. Out. Of. Her. Hands.

Tori screamed. Racing down to the bottom of the stairwell, Tori opened her saxophone case; expecting a broken neck, a scratch, _something._

But then again, fate can surprise people in many ways.

Tori groaned as she picked up the Saxophone's neck. "I broke another reed?" she sighed in exasperation.

"Two dollars for two reeds, lolly." Cat sang as she walked by.

_~.~_

_Thursday_

_.._

_Reeds Broken: 2/3_

_~.~_

"And… play!"

Rehearsal. Tori's mouth ached and she lusted for water.

Another scale played. Tori was so occupied that she had forgotten the name of it. _Looking Down, or something?_

_Ow…._

As annoying as ever, Cat, her hair styled in pigtails (_How fitting…) _sat beside Tori, her usual smirk plastered on her face as she watched her play.

"I'm watching you…" was Cat's only words to Tori that day. She kept her promise. Cat had followed Tori the whole time- during fourth period French and even during gym. Just to see if she broke a reed _that wasn't even with her._

And when they were playing, Cat stared at Tori, even when there was a complicated score Mrs. Terri had instructed the class to look at, she _still stared. _And boy, it was freaking her out.

Mrs. Terri stood, her baton in her hand. "Alright, you guys, can you pull out _Fanfare March?" _Her gaze was drawn to a boy in the back row. She slammed her baton on his stand, startling the whole class. "NOW!"

The class sheepishly pulled out their binders.

Tori licked her reed, which was carefully placed on the neck of her saxophone. She shoved it in her mouth so quickly that the reed chipped when it hit her tongue.

Tori sighed. "And that's the last of my reeds." she whispered angrily.

"And that's three dollars for tomorrow!" Cat cried, beaming.

~.~

_Friday_

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"Mrs. Terri, can I have a new reed?"

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_Reeds Broken_

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_ 3/3_

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><p><strong>AN: **_"Was that good? Wasn't that great? Wasn't it grand?"_ - I apologize for the usage of the "Nowadays" lyrics, I've been recapping too much Glee/Glee Project until Season 3 comes. #TeamLindsay! [#TeamDamian ] Please review! :D


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